Kimari: The Next Airbender
by PhantomDragon12
Summary: Kimari can bend both water and air. Why? Because she's the Avatar's daughter, but that may affect her life more than she would ever expect.
1. My Life

I've been thinking about this story for a while now and I hope you guys like it

**I've been thinking about this story for a while now and I hope you guys like it. Please review. No Flames please, but constructive criticism is good. ****Her name is pronounced: Kuh-mar-ee (rhymes with Hermione from Harry Potter.)**

Kimari's POV

I took a deep breath and placed my hands palm-to-palm.

"Like this Kimari." I felt my dad's touch as he lowered my hands, so that they were in front of my face. I kept all my concentration focused.

When he was satisfied with my posture, he released me. "Okay, now."

A small smile broke onto my lips and I pushed my body into a spiral. I felt myself being lifted into the air in something like a tornado. I kept spinning, trying to make it bigger.

Finally, I stopped my spinning and gently lowered myself to the snow feilds. Luckily, they were far from the village since I would constantly push myself to go farther. Being near the village would probably result in me accidently whipping it out when I tried out a new move.

My feet touched cold snow and I opened my eyes to see my dad looking at me.

"You did that perfectly Kimari," he praised me. I broke into a huge smile.

It meant alot to me when I did my airbending well. My dad and I were the only airbenders on the planet, which meant I would have to learn everything in order to teach it to others if they could airbend.

My name is Kimari. I'm the only daughter of Avatar Aang and Katara, though I just call them Dad and Mom. I'm also an only child.

I have friends though. I also hang out with my cousins whenever we visit them on Kyoshi Island. They're twins and their names are Hami and Rana.

I've been all over the world since both my parents love to travel and we have dad's bison, Appa.

As the daughter of the Avatar, I'm usually expected to be able to do something extrodinary. Lucky for me, I can both airbend and waterbend. As far as I know, I'm the only person in the world who can bend two elements, other than Dad of course.

I'm very close to both my parents, and they both teach me my bending. I can heal too. Not as well as Mom, more like just minor cuts, bruises, scrapes, etc.

I smiled at Dad. "Can I go penguin sledding now?" I asked. Yeah, penguin sledding at fourteen. I guess I inherited most of Dad's carefree spirit, though I am a little bit more serious. I got my looks from Mom; everyone says I look exactly like she did at fourteen, except for one thing: my eyes. Instead of Mom's clear ocean blue, my eyes got a shot of Dad's gray, so my eyes are more of a icy color. I call it ice blue.

Dad laughed and told me to be back before dinner and to have fun. Sometimes, he goes penguin sledding with me, but not today.

I smiled and went to find a small fish so I could catch the penguin. Then I went over to where they hang out most of the time. Luckily for me, they were all there. I smiled and walked out, holding the fish high in the air so they could all see it. As usual, they all ran, or waddled, over to me and I grabbed on by the scruff and had it follow me over to a big snow hill in front of the ice tunnels. I fed it the fish and got on it's back. I pushed off and we sped down the hill. My hood flew off pretty soon, okay I admit to using my bending to make us go a little faster. Just a little.

I sped through the tunnels and my laughter echoed off the walls. If I ever had any spare time here, I would explore the tunnels and I had almost every one of them memorized right along with my bending moves.

We kept like that for a while and the tunnel ended aprubtly by an old abandoned snow field. Mom told me this was where an old fire navy ship used to be and that it was used in the raids.

I knew the war had stopped years ago but the place still had an eerie feel to it. The fact that the Fire Nation had tried to take over the world was always a little hard for me to wrap my mind around. I had good friends in the Fire Nation and Fire Lord Zuko was always nice to us. His son Zhen is a couple years old than I am, but he always finds the time to spar with me when my parents go there for business or just a friendly visit to see Zuko and Mai. I knew the whole story about how Zuko had first betrayed my parents, uncle, and Toph, but that was hard to believe since he was so nice to everyone now. My parents won't tell me how he got his scar though. They said I should ask him because it's his business. I've approached him before to ask him, but the look of that vicious scar right on his eye always made me stop. Going back to that would be painful for anyone.  
The penguin bucked me off its back and waddled off, sickened at the thought of being used as a sled. I looked at the sinking sun and judged it would be almost time for dinner. I decided to head back to our home.

I lived with my parents in a big house not to far from my grandfather's, Chief Hakoda's, place. Everyone told me this place used to be a bunch of little huts surronded my a wall during the war. Now, it was considerably larger. There was a big courtyard, fountains everywhere, and waterways to move around in boats right in the town. Yeah, it's more of a town than a city.

As I walked through the city, everyone greeted me and I said hi to them. My luck ran out when Lakano saw me. I groaned and tried to get past him. He stopped me by grabbing my sleeve.

"Let go of me Lakano," I said firmly. He was always trying to get me to go out with him, so much that is was pathetic. The main reason I didn't like him was that he was shallow and didn't care for other people all that much, let alone animals.

"What's wrong Kimari Baby?" He asked, feigning innocence when he knew exactly what was going on.

"I'm in a hurry. Now let me go." He still held his grip. As much as I hated using my bending against people who couldn't amount to me in skill, I was quickly reaching my limit.

"Come on Babes. Let's go back to my place for a while." I scowled. This guy was really annoying me.

"I'm in a hurry." I said and grabbed his wrist tight, with my other hand I raised some snow up to his unprotected wrist and settled it there.  
"Let me go," I said again. He refused again and I froze the snow so that it turned into ice and stuck to his skin. "Want it to get bigger?" I asked, maliciously.

"I'll just bend myself out like last time Kimari; you know that."

I scowled at him and jerked free and flipped him to the ground. "I told you, I DON'T WANT TO DATE SOMEONE AS SHALLOW AS YOU." I said firmly and walked away.

I entered the house I shared with my family and saw Dad reading a letter. There was a Fire Nation messenger hawk on the window sill.

"Dad?" He was worrying me a little bit, with that look on his face. Mom, who was nearby, had an almost identical look.

"It's a message from Fire Lord Zuko. We need to go the Fire Nation Capital immediately."

Immediately? Must be important. I asked them for more information but they were both just as stubborn as me and they won out in the end.

"Well, you're not leaving me here." I said firmly and that was something I wouldn't budge on. They might need my help and I hadn't been to the Capital for a while anyway.

"Kimari..." Mom started, but she trailed off and looked at Dad. I knew her enough to the point I could read the look on her face. It said plain and clear, "Is it too dangerous?"

That was weird. Mom had trained me in waterbending herself and I was nearly as good as her. I still had some training to go through. The look only made me more stubborn. Mom mothered me sometimes just because I'm her "baby girl". Usually it didn't bother me, but I like to be my own person. She knew I was good. She just didn't like the idea of me getting hurt, though I rarely did.

"You might need my help if it's THAT bad," I said. I added a please just for good measure.

Dad, who always was eager for me to go with them, even seemed hesitant. "I can take care of myself," I said.

They looked at me and smiled. They knew I could. They'd both trained me.

"Okay, you can come," Dad said. Mom gave him the "look" as I called it. "But you need to stay at the palace if things get too dangerous."

I sighed inwardly. It was just a good thing that "too dangerous" for me was forty against one.

I smiled and hugged them. "Thanks. I'll go get my stuff."

**Okay. There's chapter one. I guess you could say it's really just something to get you ready for the plot. Zhen(Zuko and Mai's only son) is one of her best friends even though she is two years younger. That's why Zutara wouldn't work in this story. Chapter Two will come out soon. Remember that I'm writing like, five stories at once here. Please read and review. That is the stuff writers live off of.**


	2. What Just Happened?

I am so, so sorry for the very, very late update

**I am so, so sorry for the very, very late update. I've got three reasons for it, 1) writer's block. 2) I'm working on like, eight stories. And reason three and also the worst possible thing in the world, I was on vacation without TV during the Countdown to the Comet week. I managed to see the last three episodes but have a major five or six episode blank. **

**So, I've been thinking about how things may change and I think I've got a good reason. But this fan fiction will have to go on hiatus after a couple more chapters until I manage to see the other episodes, since I don't have TiVo or Ch. 302, which is a channel on Direct TV that shows Avatar every day, instead of the rare occasions on the other two Nick channels. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar. (Those who wonder, I do not put a disclaimer on all my stories because I have an official on my page. Go look at it.)**

**Chapter Two**

**Kimari's POV**

I yawned hugely as midnight got closer.

"Can we stop for the rest of the night?" I asked, totally exhausted from the straight ten hours of flying.

Dad turned and looked at me, seeing my tired face and droopy expression, and nodded curtly. Usually he's a lot more talkative than this, something was definitely wrong. I turned toward Mom, she was thinking hard over something and was just as worried, or even more so, than Dad.

Appa landed and I shakily airbended myself off his back. I was really tired. Dad and Mom got off right behind me and Dad airbended Appa's saddle off. I pulled out my sleeping bag and lay it on the sand. I was really tired and fell asleep instantly, probably before my head hit the ground, and didn't even give a thought that I'd barely eaten that day.

After what only seemed like seconds, my eyes pulled open. I felt… just a little different, strange. I looked at the moon; it was just a couple hours after we'd landed. I rolled over and tried to sleep again but I just couldn't. Finally, after fighting and losing the battle for sleep, I got up and walked down the beach, maybe waterbending would calm me down.

I focused on the water and took a bending stance. I let out a breath and gently separated the water from the ocean. Watching it dance before me, winding its path through the air, I had absolutely no idea what was going on right then.

**Katara's POV **

I woke up in the middle of the night to a difference. Something wasn't right. I looked around. Aang was right beside me, breathing deeply, obviously sleeping. I looked toward Kimari's sleeping bag and saw that it was empty. I stood up and looked around frantically. My breath quickened, she was gone, without a trace.

_Think Katara, _I told myself. _Kimari's a great bender. She would've fought with everything if she was being taken. Then she's somewhere around here? Where would she go?_

I looked around again and let out a breath I hadn't known I was holding. She was down the beach, far enough that she wouldn't wake us up, and waterbending. _Why was she bending in the middle of the night? She was exhausted when we landed. _

I walked toward her slowly, not realizing I wasn't making a sound. The sand was warm through the soles of my shoes, so I took the shoes off and let the sand caress my feet as I walked toward a preoccupied Kimari.

I stopped just behind her, studying her form. She was a great bender, in both water and air. I thought she acted just like Aang, maybe a little bit more serious at times, but just like Aang. Aang told me she looked just like me, except for the eyes. That much was true, but there was one thing I didn't understand about her sometimes.

She had a loose temper. Aang was really slow to anger. I had a temper, but it didn't flare up like hers would. Mine would kind of bubble to the point where I would lose it and lash out. Kimari, you could never tell when she was getting mad. I'd seen tempers like that before, but never in the Water Tribe, and Aang said it definitely wasn't from the Air Nomads. I'd only seen a temper like that on Firebenders. I shook my head, wondering at my daughter was something that would take forever; she was such a puzzle at times.

**Kimari's POV**

I felt the hand place itself on my shoulder, but that was it. I'd never noticed anyone coming up from behind me. I spun around, not realizing I kept my stance.

Mom stopped right there. I scooted away a little bit, still automatically keeping the stance. Her hand was still in midair, a look of surprise on my face. I screamed, loud and dropped the stance.

As soon as I did, Mom moved again and she looked at me in bewilderment. Dad came running up to us.

"What happened? What's wrong?" He looked around, seeing nothing.

"Mom came up behind me… and… and…. I jumped around and she didn't _move!" _I stuttered, pointing at her shaking. I was scared.

Dad gave me a look.

I was then that Mom spoke up, her voice barely above a whisper. "Aang, I couldn't move because, she… I think she bloodbended." Her voice was pure bewilderment.

I swallowed loud. Bloodbending, which was something neither of my parents had taught me. How'd I do it? A tear slipped down my cheek, Mom had offered once to teach me, I had replied that I didn't want that kind of power over someone. The subject had been dropped then and there. Never to be mentioned again. She'd never wanted it either, but she'd been forced into it.

I few more tears ran down my face. Mom and Dad stepped forward and hugged me hard. My shoulders shook a little bit. I felt that something inside me had changed forever.


	3. Arrival and Food

It is Chapter Three

**It is Chapter Three!! Well… here ya' go. **

**I do not own Avatar, only the original characters. **

**Kimari's POV**

A huge smile lit up my face as I spotted the Fire Nation Royal Family waiting for us in the palace's courtyard. The smile threatened to break my face when I noticed that Uncle Sokka and Aunt Sukki, along with Tokka, my sixteen year old cousin, and Hami and Rana, the fourteen year old twins.

Of course, Toph was there. She'd stayed in the Fire Nation as an Earth Kingdom ambassador after the war ended. I know she wasn't really related to me, but she was my godmother, and I loved her like an aunt.

Firelord Zuko was waving to us and Mai was smiling. She's not really the most self-expressing person on the planet but she was pretty cool all the same. She'd taught me a few of her knife throwing moves once, and, after almost skewering a few people, I'd laid down the moves pretty quickly.

And then there was Zhen. I didn't think it was possible, but I think he got even hotter (Fire Nation humor!) since the last time I'd seen him. His hair had gotten shaggier and he looked a little bit more muscular. He wasn't really buff, more of a lean person.

Appa landed and I jumped off. Running up to them, I hugged them all tightly. I was about to hug Mai, remembered she didn't like being hugged much, and smiled at her. She saw me, groaned, and said, "Go ahead." So I did, keeping it short so she wouldn't feel that mortified. Zhen was last for hugs and I hugged him too. He only saw me as the best friend he'd known for years, not in at all a girlfriend way. I'd hugged him forever and today wouldn't be any different.

After the greetings, we all went inside for dinner. I sat down in my spot, sent up a prayer, and dug in. Fire Nation food may be spicy, but it is good! I prefer my own native food, but the spicy stuff always tasted great to me.

After a few minutes, I realized no one had really said anything. I looked around at everyone. Dad was sitting next to me, so I nudged him with my elbow. He looked at me, and shrugged.

Well, I guess starting the talking would be up to me. When I get bored, I sometimes think up of ways to do stuff like this. I picked the perfect one for the occasion and carried it out.

I looked toward Tokka and started suppressing giggles, then laughs, before I finally broke out laughing.

His face turned beat red; it was so funny, it just made me laugh more. You know how they say laughing is contagious? Well, it is. Pretty soon, everyone was laughing without any real idea of what they were laughing at.

"Come on! What are you laughing at?!" Tokka demanded. I pointed to him, but by then I was laughing so hard that I could barely breathe. A few tears rolled down my cheeks.

He stood up and started looking himself over, even lifting his shirt up on one occasion. It was hilarious. You really should have seen that look on his face.

A few of the servants rushed in to see what was wrong with us, and they started laughing too.

About half an hour later, the laughter finally died down and we all started talking again, past awkwardness forgotten, occasionally laughing under our breath.

Mission accomplished.

A couple hours later, Tokka caught up with me.

"What was so funny?" He demanded.

I suppressed a few laughs, shook my head, and walked away. It would always be a mystery.

**Okay, well, that's chapter three. I really didn't know what to write for the arrival in the Fire Nation, but I hope you guys like it. **

**Okay, well, later. **


	4. Threats

**This is Chapter Four. Sorry it took so long, but my computer has been down lately. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar, only my original characters. **

**Also, since the name Tokka for her older cousin caused some confusion, I have decided to change his name to Kyan, partly after Sokka and Katara's mother Kya. I am sorry if I spelled her name wrong. **

**Thanks to my reviewers:**

**Ice-liger**

**star girl-luvs-Twilight**

**_____________________________________________________________________________________**

**Chapter Four**

**Kimari's POV **

_Okay, breathe in, breathe out. _I thought, meditating in one of the gardens. Dad had me start meditating not long after I began airbending. It helps you understand the flow of the air currents around you. It also helps to be completely peaceful when you bend too.

My reason for meditating, well, we've been in the Fire Nation for about a week now and the tension hasn't eased up at all. Firelord Zuko has called a meeting today to tell us why we were here. His reason for waiting, benders from all over the world have showed up. Even the Order of the White Lotus has showed up. I don't mind them being here, and I love them all like family, it's just that all the tension is seriously messing with my chi. Something is going on and it's big.

Suddenly, I was jolted out of my thoughts when I heard someone walk into the garden. Not seeing me, since I was sitting behind a tree, they walked over and sat by that turtle duck pond. I was in full meditation so I just stayed where I was, carefully controlling my breathing and feeling the air around me.

That was when the tugging started. It felt like something was pulling on my spirit, almost like a tug of war. Startled, I jolted out of my meditation trance. That was weird. Unable to reenter the trance, I stood up and walked toward the exit, maybe one of the benders would spar with me. I was almost gone when I noticed the Firelord sitting by the pond.

Now normally, I would've just let him be, but he wasn't moving at all. His eyes were closed and I don't think he was even breathing. Surprised, I walked over to the man and gently pushed on his shoulder.

"Firelord Zuko. Mr. Firelord…" It went on like that for a few minutes. Finally, I gently shoved him and raised my voice.

"Zuko, wake up!" His eyes snapped open, his arm flew up, and flame soared toward me. It would've seriously burned me if I hadn't shielded myself with an air dome.

"What the heck was that?" I snapped. Okay, I know I was way out of line, but he really scared me.

Blinking dazedly, the Firelord slowly stood up.

"Kimari… I thought you were… never mind."

"You thought I was who?" I asked, slowly calming down. Sometimes my temper really gets on my nerves, even I can't control it. And it's _my_ temper.

"Hey Sparky! Did you forget about the meeting you called, or were you just going to show up whenever you felt like it?"

I looked up to see Toph yelling at us from the other side of the garden.

Firelord Zuko shrugged. "Tell them I'll be there in a minute."

While Zuko talked to Toph a little bit, I chuckled under my breath. _Sparky?_

**Ten Minutes Later**

**Firelord Palace**

**Throne Room**

I pulled my legs into Lotus position and looked around the almost crowed throne room. Everyone was sitting down around a large map in the middle of the floor. Zhen was sitting next to me, a wondering look on his face.

I elbowed him in the side. "What's this all about?" I asked under my breath.

He shrugged. "I'm just as clueless as you are."

"I suppose you're wondering why I've gathered you all here."

I looked up. Firelord Zuko had started talking. People nodded. Across the room, my mom chewed her lower lip; Dad had a worried look on his face. Maybe they knew what was going on here.

"I have reason to believe Azula has gathered a revolt."

That one sentence had enormous impact throughout the room. People gasped, and a few people, including me, regarded the Firelord carefully. Everyone knew that the former Fire Princess Azula was in a maximum security prison, practically crazy.

"But Azula is still in her prison. Why do you think she's behind the revolt?" Mom asked, voicing my concerns.

Zuko waited a moment before answering her. "I just know that it is Azula. It is true, yes, that she has been in her prison under constant watch for past years, but the voice behind this revolt is certainly hers."

"But wouldn't we have seen signs of a revolt before this if there was going to be one?" It was Uncle Sokka that spoke. After the end of the war, Firelord Zuko had hired new royal advisors, retiring or imprisoning the war advisors. It was only the older generation of Fire Nation that still thought other nations beneath them.

"That does seem logical, but this is Azula we're dealing with. Even though she is mad, she still tends to work with her underhanded dealings."

"But _how_ do you know something is wrong?" Dad's worried face regarded the Firelord.

"This.'

With that, Firelord Zuko stood up and walked over to my father. He handed him a message on weathered parchment.

Mom, who was reading over Dad's shoulder, gasped.

The message was passed around.

_Zuzu, you know that every power must have its own eclipse._

*line break*

It was nearly midnight, and I couldn't sleep. The ominous message still chilled me. It was obviously a threat.

The meeting had lasted for hours. Everyone was trying to contemplate every way for Azula to have started a movement. There were still those who had supported the war. Most of them were older than my parents, and were brought up as Fire Nation nobility.

I trailed my hand through the fountain I was sitting on. I was in one of the gardens of the palace. This was probably my favorite. It had a huge fountain in the middle of it. The fountain was at least six feet deep, and water cascaded from the top of it like a waterfall.

"Couldn't sleep either?"

I jumped. Zhen had snuck up right behind me. I nodded.

He sat down next to me. "Do you know what I realized during the meeting?"

I turned to him and studied his face. I shook my head.

I studied his brooding look. "I realized, that neither me, nor you, or anyone else of our generation, has ever been in a real fight."

I rolled my eyes. "We spar practically every morning Zhen."

He shook his head. "That's different. We're not bent on destroying the other. Neither of us has been in a fight where the opponent is trying to kill us."

I realized he was right. "You make it sound like we'll have to fight someone who wants to kill us."

He nodded. "If this threat gets any larger, if my Aunt Azula somehow starts a revolt, we'll have to."

I nodded solemnly. He was right. "We'll just have to train harder then. Won't we?"

He nodded. Then, without warning, he wrapped his arm around my back and pulled me into the fountain. I came up sputtering.

"What the _heck_ was that for?" I snapped. He laughed and held his hand out to me. A plan formed in my head.

I reached forward, as if to take his hand, and at the last minute, shot my hand forward and grabbed his wrist. With a yank, I pulled his into the fountain next to me.

When he surfaced, I splashed him. "That's what you get for pushing me in here," I laughed.

Grinning, he splashed me back. And a splash fight commenced.

_________________________________________________________________________

**Well, there you go. **

**The threat comes out and some ZhenKima in there for you guys. Again, I am so sorry to anyone who is reading this story. I will try to be more diligent in my uploads in the future. **


	5. Happy Birthday Kimari

**Okay, here is Chapter Five. I am trying to write a new chapter for this story everyday. **

**Anyway, thanks to my reviews**

**Avatarmaster19960**

**And my other reviewers who I forgot to credit on earlier chapters:**

**PETERbringMEtoNEVERLAND **

**AvatarAiris**

**Fantasyland**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar.**

**There will be more action in the next chapter. **

**________________________________________________________________________**

**Chapter Five**

**A Couple Weeks Later**

**Kimari's POV**

I shifted my weight between my two feet. Everyone, and I mean everyone, had been acting really weird around me today. I could barely walk through the palace without being detained by somebody with a "Hi Kimari," and they would tell me some story, whether funny or serious depending on the individual.

So far, Uncle Sokka, Aunt Suki, Kyan, Hami and Rana, Toph and Haru (who were together by the way), and the entire Order of the White Lotus.

Finally, about half an hour ago, I'd found some peace and quiet in the garden with the fountain. I smiled at the memory of mine and Zhen's water fight. Lately, we've been talking more and more, but there still wasn't any girlfriend/boyfriend feeling from him.

Smiling to myself, I slipped into the fountain and swam around a little bit, cooling off form the overly hot Fire Nation weather.

Speaking of the weather, it was strange how hot it was today. I've spent many a summer in the Fire Nation, but none of them had been as hot as this day. I'd tied my hair into a high ponytail today, in a desperate attempt to stop sweating.

"Kimari?" I spun around in the water to find my dad giving me a weird look.

"Hey Dad," I said brightly, realizing the awkwardness of my current situation.

"Kimari… what are you doing in the fountain?"

I grinned nervously. "Trying to cool off. This is the hottest day in Fire Nation history."

He gave me a weird look. "Kimari, it's barely ninety degrees today. It's usually much hotter than this."

I gaped at him. "You're kidding right? It's at least a hundred and ten out here."

"No, I'm pretty sure it's about ninety out here."

I scoffed at him. "You're just messing with me."

He regarded me. "Who's the Fire Bender here?"

I grinned. "Point taken, but I still say it's hot out here."

He laughed. "Why don't you climb out of there and come with me?"

I nodded and swam over to the edge. Air drying myself, I followed my dad back into the palace.

*insert line break*

"Happy Birthday Kimari!" I skidded to a stop as I walked into the dinning room. I'd completely forgotten it was the Summer Solstice today. I turned fifteen today and didn't even remember.

I looked around and a big smile lit my face. Everyone was here. I raised an eyebrow. "Is that why people wouldn't let me have a moment of peace today?"

A few people laughed and I sat down in my customary place next to Zhen.

*Present Time*

My eyes stared widely at the staff that I now held in my hands. "How… how did you get this?"

Dad smiled at me. "I talked to a few people, pulled a few strings," he shrugged. I let out a yelp of joy and threw my arms around him.

"Thank you!"

I heard a few people chuckle. "There's a snack compartment too." That was probably Kyan.

It was Mom who stood up next. She didn't have anything in her hands, wasn't holding anything behind her back.

She smiled at me. Reaching up, she unfastened her mother's necklace and handed it over to me.

Slowly, I reached out and took it form her, holding it gently in my hands. The blue silk was soft against my skin. The Water Tribe pendant was surprisingly cool. I blinked to make sure it wouldn't disappear. I knew how much this necklace meant to my mom.

I looked at her. She smiled softly. "It was once my grandmothers; she gave it to my mother, who gave it to me. It's time it was yours."

I fastened it around my neck. I stepped forward and shared a warm hug with my mom. "Thank you," I whispered in her ear. She held me tight.

It was a couple minutes before anyone else said anything. It was Zhen who broke the silence.

He elbowed me in my side gently. "You're going to like this one. It's from everyone else."

It was then that a door opened and a small baby dragon flew in to settle itself around my neck.

I gazed at her wonderingly, for I knew the dragon was a girl. She was easily four feet in length and a dark blood-red color. Two small horns protruded from the front of her head, and her wings were a darker red than the rest of her body. Slowly, at the prompting looks from everyone, I reached up and scratched her behind her ear. She emitted a satisfied sound and climbed down my body to curl herself in my lap.

Yep, this was a pretty good birthday.

*insert line break*

Zhen and I were sparring in the arena. He shot a fireball at me, which I dodged, landing on the roof of the surrounding pavilion-like structures. He watched me from his place in the sparring space. Grinning, I stood up and spun my new glider staff. Manipulating the air currents, I leapt off the roof and flew through the air.

I loved it.

Zhen shot more fireballs at me, which I dodged like mad. That was what we did when we sparred. We would use bending, but we wouldn't aim to harm the other, meaning the blows were easily dodged by either of us.

Impulsively, I reached out, taking one hand off the glider, and shot a stream of air. He blocked it easily with a fireball, but I wasn't so lucky.

Taking my hand off the glider had messed with my balance and I crashed to the ground, scrapping my elbows and knees.

Before I could get up, Zhen was right behind me. He placed both his hands on my shoulders and pinned my to the ground.

"Got you," he said, a laugh in his voice.

A dragon hissed from across the clearing. My dragon. I'd named her Talon.

"Okay, okay, you got me, now get off." He released one of my shoulders. I swung my arm off, intending to hit him with a gush of water.

Flame leapt out of my hand.

Zhen threw himself backward, staring at me in disbelief. The fire had missed his face my millimeters.

I stood up and tried again. Again, fire flew out of my fingertips.

"What was that?" Zhen yelled, just as surprised as I was.

I shook my head. "I guess I'm a Fire Bender now."

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**There is chapter 5. I don't know if Kimari Fire Bending too is a little bit cliché, but I promise that the rest of this story won't be. And she is not turning into some weird type of Avatar, promise.**

**Anyway, I'll only keep writing if I get two good reviews of the chapter. So if you liked it, click the little green button below. **


	6. The Boundary of Darkness and Light

**Hey, sorry it took so long to write this chapter. I'm trying to work on a bunch of stories and balance tenth grade! **

**Thanks to my reviewers:**

**Sleepihead **

**Japanese-cartoon-freak**

**ice-liger **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. Any unrecognized characters were created by me. **

**________________________________________________________________________**

**Chapter Six**

**The Boundary of Darkness and Light**

**Location: near northern borders of the Earth Kingdom**

Ryoku shook as she pulled her knees closer to her chest, hugging them to her. Inwardly scolding herself, she unbent and walked over to the small pool to gather some water. _You must me strong, Ryoku, _she told herself.

As she dipped the jug into the water, she froze upon seeing her reflection on the calm, mirror of the pool. Her eyes were again the golden color, her hair perhaps a few shades darker, her skin slightly paler than was normal for her.

She closer her eyes and shook her head, her hair flying everywhere, where she usually had it pinned up. Opening her eyes, she looked into the pool again to see her normal self. Her chestnut brown hair fell into long folds down her back, while violet eyes stared back at her from her tanned face.

"Hey Ryoku!"

Startled, she spun around and stood to face whoever had snuck up on her, only to reveal her brother.

"What do you want, Sessou?" she snapped.

He blinked, startled. "You've been up here for nearly an hour. We thought that maybe…"

He trailed off and studied his younger sister. She looked shaken, the way her eyes kept darting around, was if she was afraid of something.

"Hey, is something-"

"_Nothing's wrong! _Just leave me alone why don't you!"

Sessou sighed. "Well, you might as well come on," he said harshly. Taking his sister gently by the arm, he led her down to the small cabin they shared with their parents.

**Later That Night**

Ryoku curled up on her bed, pulling her quilt closer around her. She'd retreated into her room when the twins had come over. They lived down the street in their little town. Rin and Ayame were precious children and she didn't want them to see her in her current state. When they'd run through the door, begging her mother to tell them a story of the Great War, she'd hugged them both and went to the small room she slept in, saying she had a headache.

In truth, she Ryoku was terrified of the night. Of course, it hadn't always been like that. There had been a time when she loved the night sky with all its stars. It had been six nights ago, that the dreams had started and scared her out of her wits.

They had horrified her. In the dreams, she was a girl about her own age, although she knew she wasn't seeing herself. The figures and images were fleeting, but one face always stuck in her memory. It belonged to an angry youth, who always seemed to be yelling. He would constantly Fire bend at me and from my own fingertips, lightning would sprout shooting back at him. I remember someone falling from a height, about to die from the fall.

Every night, she would awake from the dreams, believing she was awash in a column of fire. She would jerk awake in her bed, perfectly safe. But the anger didn't dissipate with the dream images, always it was anger.

She felt so angry. She really didn't know who she was angry at, but it was directed at everyone she met in the dream, following her into her world. Lately, the normal sweet fourteen year old would snap at anyone who came near her. On one occasion, she'd actually punches, not slapped but punched, her brother, just for coming near her.

She'd written notes too. She didn't know what they meant, but it foreboding to say the least. _Who was this Zuzu? _she would wonder. Even more scary, she'd sent the one note using a messenger hawk.

Her mind ventured to the twin blades she'd stashed under her bed. She was a master at swords, especially her paired katanas. Afraid she would harm someone with them, she'd hid them from herself and she never carried them anymore, never practiced. Once, she would practice in any spare moment. She knew her family was wondering about her current state. She didn't want them to worry about her, but what could she do. For, right now, she knew only one thing.

She felt as she was turning into the girl from her dream.

She dreaded it.

**________________________________________________________________________**

**Sorry it was so short, but I needed to introduce you to our would-be villain. Try to guess what's happening to her! It might be a little bit too sci-fi, but review anyway… Please?!**

**Phantoms signing off. **


	7. Fire Flakes!

**Okay, well, I know it's been practically forever since I've updated and I really can't blame that on anything besides my laziness plus my generally crazy life, and writer's block, mustn't forget my enemy! **

**Thanks to my ONLY reviewer: Sleepihead. I know you might have stopped looking for the story because of the long wait, but I appreciate you all the same! *hugs***

**  
Disclaimer: I dues not owneth Avatar. **

**Chapter Seven**

**Choices**

Ryoku stared at her parents, mouth wide open, staring in shock. Sessou tentatively stepped toward her and hugged her close.

"You want me to what?" She shrieked, causing her brother to wince.

Her mother stepped forward also and put a hand on her daughter's shoulder.

"Ryoku, my child, something's not right," she whispered in a calming voice. "In Ba Sing Se, there is a therapist who specializes in dreams and their effects on the mind. She might be able to help you."

_A therapist? Do you really think I'm crazy? _She thought, shaking slightly. Her father hugged her, making her feel better for a split second.

"Ryoku, please go. It's what I want you to do."

_What you want me to do? _At the moment, she wanted to strike out, hit something. If only it would make this feeling go away. The dreams, yes, they were terrifying, but she wondered if she'd made the right choice telling her parents about it.

"I'll be with you the whole way," Sessou whispered in her ear.

She nodded. "Okay," she whispered. "When do we leave?"

*~&~*

Kimari's POV

"Are you sure about this?" I hissed.

Zhen chuckled. "Yeah, I've done this a million times. Just come on!"

He reached toward me and grabbed my wrist, pulling me toward the palace walls.

"So, are you even going to tell me where you're taking me?"

He turned back to me, eyes shining slightly with mischief and the moonlight.

"Yeah, this is fun. You'll like it, promise."

I nodded and followed my best friend.

"Okay," he whispered. "Stop, we'll have to jump the wall here."

I nodded and bent down, preparing to launch myself over the obstacle. Zhen grabbed my shoulders, holding me down. "Not yet," he whispered. He pointed up to the top, and the guard that was patrolling.

I nodded, slightly embarrassed that I'd almost blown our cover, and a few minutes later, we flew up over the wall and down the other side.

It was amazing, exhilarating. Every time I went somewhere, people recognized me. They would say things like, "Hey, it's the Avatar's kid," or "Is that who I think it is? Do you really think she's a double-bender?"

I'd heard things like that my whole life, and they were commonplace for me. Zhen was used to them too, being the Fire Prince.

But as I walked down that crowed street, still lit after dusk had fallen, no one turned to look at me and gawk.

"Wow, this is awesome!" I whispered.

Zhen laughed. "Now, are you glad I talked you into coming out here?"

I nodded, my eyes busy taking everything in.

He'd approached me with the idea earlier in the day, just after breakfast.

His instructions were simple. Dress in street clothes, disguise yourself, meet me in the fountain garden after twilight.

I'd pestered him all day about what the heck he wanted, but he wouldn't relent. He tended to be stubborn when he wanted to be. Now I could see why.

This absolutely blew my mind. Maybe it was the exhilaration of a feeling of freedom. Whatever it was, I felt like I could run straight down the middle of the street as fast as I wanted and no have a second thought about it.

It made me feel good.

Zhen gripped my shoulder and pulled me down the thinning crowd of a side street.

I giggled. "Where are we going?" I asked.

He grinned, not letting go of my shoulder. "I'm going to show you the place to get Super Spicy Fire-Flakes."

"Seriously?" My mouth watered at the thought. Un-Waterbender-like, I know, but I loved the things.

My mind strayed to the recent happenings. Me? A Firebender? I really didn't know how that could happen. We'd told my parents and everyone else about the incident, and, although they didn't know how it'd happened either, I'd started training as a Firebender, Dad being more than happy to help.

He was going to go into the Spirit World tonight, in order to ask guidance from past Avatars. Maybe they'd seen a triple bender before, other than themselves of course. A dual bender wasn't really that rare, usually resulting from two different element bender parents. For example, Earthbender plus Waterbender equals Earth and Water bending child, sometimes.

We weren't really that sure how that happened, and usually only with elements that weren't opposites, like Fire and Water for instance. Theoretically, a Water and Fire shouldn't be able to coexist in one body, save for the Avatar.

"Two Super Spicy Fire-flakes please," Zhen said, jolting me out of my wonderings.

The guy at the counter scanner us, "Sure kids, five coppers."

Zhen handed over the money and we got the Flakes.

"Okay, so just take these one at a time. They're really…"

Zhen's warning was cut off as I shoved a handful into my mouth.

You know when you stick your hand in some hot water, and you take a minute to realize you hand's about to burn off. Well, my reaction was a little bit like that.

I stood there for a minute, slowly wondering if I should spit the flakes out or just swallow then use Waterbending to get all the humid water out of the air and shove it into my mouth.

Zhen watched me for a minute. By the look on his face, I think he didn't know whether to burst out laughing or wonder if I was about to spontaneously combust or something along those lines.

Finally, I swallowed and whipped the small sheen of sweat off my forehead, panting.

Zhen grinned and handed me a cup. I didn't need anymore incentive than that, I swallowed it all in one gulp. The cup was followed by another which went down my throat in a slightly less comical manner.

**Ten Minutes Later**

"I can't believe I did that!" I said, banging my head on the table.

Zhen laughed. "Well, next time I guess you won't do that," I glared at him, before bursting out into my own laughter. We spent about five minutes laughing there in the restaurant laughing, tears steaming down our faces.

"Okay, okay," I said, calming myself down. "It's kinda late. Don't you think we should be getting back before someone notices were gone?"

Zhen nodded, still laughing. "Yeah, come on."

I stood up and waved goodbye to the currently staring people. "Goodbye my admirers!" I said, bowing elaborately.

We walked out of the restaurant and were halfway down the street when something hit my head and I saw stars.

* * *

**O.o cliffy! Okay, sow guess what's going one? Anybody? Anyway, sorry for the extremely long wait. I promise I'll try to update more constantly! **

**Luv ya! **


	8. Figuring It Out

Okay, so I know it's been a while longer than I promised with this update. I've been super busy with Christmas. My family went on vacation and I haven't been near a computer for two weeks.

Thanks to my reviewers:

Nicoisawesome

Sleepihead

XxPR1NC3s5xx

Rdr-Wrtr

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, just my ideas are mine.

* * *

Chapter Eight

Figuring It Out

Kimari's POV

I groaned and tried rolling onto my side. It'd been awhile since we'd visited an Air Temple and I wasn't accustomed to the harder beds that we slept on while there.

It hurt worse. At first, I wasn't really sure what hurt. I tried squinting my eyes open and was rewarded with a jab of pain through my head.

I groaned again. "What hit me?" I muttered, a hand to my now throbbing cranium.

Nothing happened. A few minutes later, since the aching had dulled, I forced my eyes open once more. I was greeted with another stab of pain, although it wasn't as intense.

The room I was in was small and simple. I don't think it was really a room. The wall were covered in metal. I had propped myself up on my elbows on a thin straw mattress, slightly covered in a scratchy blanket. It was then that I knew it wasn't in an Air Temple room. The rooms there were atop mountains, providing wondrous views to whoever elected to stay. The room didn't have a window. It was just a metal box, barely larger than twenty square feet. It also had the crushing urge of being underground, like being surrounded.

"Hey," I muttered. "Where am I?" No answer came.

I looked around. "Where am I?" I called, louder this time.

Instead of finding a way out, the sound reverberated through the room, bouncing back and causing my headache to worsen. I reached to my side for my ever-present Waterbending pouch. It was gone.

It was then that the past events came rushing back to me, and I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that told me what had happened, no matter how much my conscious mind wanted to prove it wrong.

I'd been kidnapped.

~&~

In the next room, Zhen was going through much the same thing. Instead of Kimari's more… calm reaction, the Fire Nation Royal Prince stood and let loose a barrage of flames at the single visual door.

The metal showed no sign of warping to his will and instead the constant upkeep of the flames made the tiny metal room much hotter. Exhausted, Zhen sat back on the mattress and began to formulate a plan.

~&~

"Describe your dreams."

Ryoku sat on a comfortable couch, facing the therapist. She seemed nice enough. She must've been in her mid-forties, with laugh lines around her eyes and a pleasant smile. She'd introduced herself as Aika.

Ryoku chewed on her bottom lip, gathering her thoughts.

"Well, I really find it hard to remember my dreams. There's this angry guy with a scar and I keep trying to hurt him."

Aika leaned forward. "Interesting, and, do you know of any past… prejudices you may have had against this person."

She shook her head. "No, I've never met him. And it's not always him I'm aiming at… sometimes they're just normal people, and they're afraid of me. Afraid of me, because I'm trying to hurt them. And a lot of the time, I succeed."

Aika nodded and made a note. "So, you're attempting to harm people, and that scares you?"

A frown crossed Ryoku's face. "I just said that," she spat menacingly. She started and blinked. There it was again, the anger.

Aika nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, yes, I did, didn't I? You've noticed these dreams coming into your normal, everyday life?"

She grinned ruefully. Her everyday life wasn't exactly what most people would refer to as "normal". She'd grown up wealthy, her father an Earth Kingdom noble. She'd run with her brother and the other neighborhood boys, eventually learning swordplay.

Ryoku nodded. "I'm not normally an angry person," she smirked at her use of the word normal. "I _like_ people. I don't want to hurt people, but I find myself striking out at them anyway."

Aika studied the troubled teenager. "Okay Ryoku, I would like to talk with you again. How long will you be in the city?"

Ryoku shrugged. "I'm not sure exactly. My parents sent myself and my brother here to see if you could do anything about my dreams."

Aika grinned. "Good, could you come back tomorrow? Same time?"

Ryoku looked up, surprised. If it was dependent of her, she would say this woman wanted to get rid of her. "Um… I guess so, yeah. I can come back."

**Ten Minutes Later**

Aika grinned to herself. She knew all her hard work would one day pay off. She was sure the girl was the one. It had been prophesized that one day the spirit would be returned to the world, leading a once defeated nation to victory.

The angry demeanor was reminiscent of her Royal Princess Azula. The scared teenager seemed to be the Fire Lord Zuko. If Ryoku was indeed the reincarnation, she would have to act quickly and decisively.

She grinned ruefully to herself and stroked the symbol of the Phoenix branded on the inside of her right wrist.

~&~

Fire Lady Mai wasn't usually one to worry. Normally, she wasn't the one to show much emotion at all. Only a few things in the world would reduce her to the angrily pacing, muttering woman she was right now.

"When he gets back here, I am going to tan his hide so hard he won't leave the palace for the rest of the year. After that, I'll take my best shruikan knives and pin him to his bed. He'll have to have his dinner served to him."

Fire Lord Zuko watched silently as his wife paced their bedchambers. He had no doubt that she would go through with every threat she muttered when their only son returned. In part, Zuko blamed himself. He'd known Zhen would sneak out of the palace about once or twice a week and spend time in the city. He himself hadn't mentioned it for a few reasons. For one, he himself had felt suffocated locked up in the palace all the time. Another one being that Mai, normally reclusive, seemingly depressed Mai, tended to be overprotective of her only son.

Exhausted, Mai sat on the bed, shoulders slumped inward, next to Zuko. He cautiously put his arm around her shoulders, mindful that she might decide to strike out in her current state.

"Hey, don't worry Mai. He'll come back."

She leaned against her husband. "Are you so sure Zuko? He doesn't do things like this?"

Zuko grimaced. Zhen was normally back before to late into the night when he disappeared. This morning, he'd missed breakfast, followed by lunch and supper.

"Yes, I'm sure," he whispered, just loud enough for Mai to hear. Zuko wanted to voice his doubts but he felt that this would be the wrong time to do it. If the so-called resistance was finally taking action, Zhen would be in a lot more trouble than his mother's rage.

It was then that a soft knock came at the door.

Zuko looked up and Mai scooted away slightly; he removed his arm. It wasn't proper so show personal affection, and it had become commonplace.

"Come in," he called. The door opened to admit a troubled Katara, Talon riding on her shoulder, looking down even for a dragon.

"I'm sorry to bother you Zuko, Mai. I know we already said goodnight. But I was wondering if you'd seen Kimari."

The look on his face must've been enough. Katara stepped back, looking stricken.

He hadn't seen the newest Firebender all day or last night for that matter.

* * *

**Well, it took me a while to get it up but it was faster than my last update. A deeper plot is starting to take root in my mind and I'll try to write more! **


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